Kendrick Perkins is something of a throwback player. In addition to being perhaps the best post defender in the NBA, Perkins is what some might call an “enforcer.” He gets the most out of each one of his fouls, is the admitted master of the moving screen that doesn’t look like a moving screen, never, ever smiles on the court, and isn’t afraid to get into a confrontation with somebody that doesn’t like his physical brand of play.

In the Western Conference Finals, Perkins is lined up against Mavericks Center Tyson Chandler, who is also a banger, and the two only took 70 seconds to get into each other’s faces in game one, resulting in a double-technical. After the game, Perkins confirmed that he has something against Chandler:

“Me and Tyson never got along. I’m serious,” said Perkins, whom the Thunder acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Boston Celtics. “He don’t like me, I don’t like him and that’s pretty much how it’s been. Everybody always looks at me as kind of like a dirty player if you’re on the opposite team, but he’s just as dirty as anybody else.”

Chandler, for his part, seems to just want to play basketball:

“I have nothing against him,” Chandler said of Perkins. “He won a championship with the Boston Celtics, and that’s where I’m trying to take my team. I mean, I’ve got respect for him, what he was able to accomplish. But all the chippy stuff, the after-the-ball stuff, that’s all nonsense and I’m not going to get involved with it.”

Both Chandler and Perkins gave their team a much-needed injection of interior defense and physicality after they were acquired in the off-season and at the deadline, respectively. Now they’re going up against each other in the conference finals, and their battle in the trenches may end up being nearly as important as what Nowitzki and Durant end up doing. Well, maybe not nearly as important. But still pretty important. And there’s some bad blood behind it as well. The battle between the two centers will be something to watch as this series continues to play out.

So this is how it ends. What felt like an inevitable run to the second three-peat for Kobe Bryant, the fourth three-peat for Phil Jackson, and yet another championship for the Los Angeles Lakers, ended in nothing but misery and classlessness in Dallas, Texas. A Hall of Fame coach most known for his motivational tactics witnesses his team outright quit, then conduct themselves in a reprehensible manner, down 30.

This from a veteran, the guy who when plugged in is the difference between a Lakers win and a loss more often than not. It wasn’t the worst foul, it was just so blatantly intentional. Odom was ineffective, along with the entirety of the Lakers. But to respond with such a petty approach as he is being swept out? It’s not even outrageous. It’s just sad.

Not as sad as Andrew Bynum, though.

Classless? Check. Unnecessary? Check. Predictable? You betcha. This is Andrew Bynum, who put Gerald Wallace in the hospital, and cracked Michael Beasley on a similar play this season. He was excused for it being an accident both times, but this just reaffirms the fact that Bynum’s still emotionally volatile to the point of recklessness. It’s a shame because if there was one Laker who actually played with intensity and execution, it’s Andrew Bynum. But Bynum won’t be displaying those skills for several games next season as he’ll be serving a very well-deserved suspension.

So what was more disgusting? A champion going down in such an effortless failure or the players responding to said adversity by committing petty fouls and drawing ejections? The winner is no one.

But the lack of effort should be noted as well. Instead of fighting to the bitter end and making a simple adjustment: defending the three and forcing the Mavericks to beat them inside, the Lakers stood by and watched as Jason Terry nailed three after three after three. Derek Fisher occasionally strolled by to try and “run him off” but on several possessions, no one was there.

This is the franchise of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, of Robert Horry, the .04 shot, the Shaq alley-oop, and the past two championships. And instead the Zen Master watched as his troops failed to commit, then committed an epic display of petulance to send him off. Nothing can tarnish the legacy of the Lakers, arguably the greatest franchise in the NBA, in all of sports.

I’m not sure we should look at this as Amar’e Stoudemire getting out of jail, just that his sentence was suspended. For now.

But it was the right call.

The league has rescinded the technical given to Amar’e Stoudemire (and the matching one to Brendan Haywood) during Thursday night’s Mavericks blowout of the Knicks.

That would have been Stoudemire’s 16th technical, triggering an automatic one-game suspension. Dwight Howard has already served his.

Eventually Stoudemire is going to get his 16th and sit out a game. But the NBA made the right move, it shouldn’t have been for this.

This was a Bennett Salvatore special. The referee was near midcourt with 9:37 left in the second quarter when Stoudemire and Haywood had some run-of-the-mill pushing and shoving to get a rebound. Salvatore rushed in to make the call in the lane and hit both guys with a T. Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni got so worked up he picked up a technical not long after.

Amar’e Stoudemire’s status for Sunday’s Knicks game against the Pacers is now in doubt as he picked up his 16th technical Thursday night, the number that triggers an automatic one-game suspension.

Although, don’t be shocked if the league rescinds this one.

Everyone’s favorite referee (*cough, cough*) Bennett Salvatore rushed in with 9:37 left in the second quarter after Stoudemire and Dallas’ Brendan Haywood had some run-of-the-mill pushing and shoving to get a rebound. It was nothing that doesn’t happen a dozen times a game, but Salvatore raced in from half court to make the call in the lane.

Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni was so heated up on this one he picked up a technical not long after.

If it stands, Stoudemire would join Dwight Howard as the only NBA players to get to 16 technicals and the automatic suspension Stephen Jackson of the Bobcats has 14.

But this one should not stand. There was nothing close to deserving a technical there.

It took exactly one week for Dwight Howard to pick up his 16th technical — which means an automatic one game suspension. The league will review it but I’d sit Howard from your fantasy team Monday night when they take on the Portland if I were you.

Howard picked up his not-so-sweet 16 the end of the first half, when Kyle Korver provoked him. Howard and Korver went up for a rebound off an Orlando miss and as you’d expect Howard got it. Korver in the process hit Howard on the top of the head (and was whistled for the foul).

Then Korver took an extra swipe at the ball in Howard’s hand after the play, and Howard threw a little elbow. Referee Ed Malloy stepped right in between them and then T’d up Howard.

The Bulls went on to win the game. And the Magic will have a hard time winning without Howard against a scrappy Trail Blazer team next time they take the court.